'Meeting Maung-Maung' Response

Overall, I think the theme of Pico Iyer's "Meeting Maung-Maung" essay is that our expectations of people are often grossly incorrect. Before we apply our preconceived stereotypes to each person we meet, the latter should be given a chance to prove themselves as different than what we might expect. Iyer emphasizes this point many times throughout his essay, illustrating his initial fear to go to Muang-Maung's house due to the image he had created for himself of all trishaw drivers, and his later shift to understanding and appreciating Muang-Muang's ability and desire to connect with him as a human being. I loved how Iyer focuses on his interaction with Muang-Muang so much, that the location is second-thought and is gradually revealed through the story of tourist meeting trishaw driver. For example, he intermittently mentions his arrival "from Rangoon to Mandalay" (pg. 19) and informs the reader about local culture by discussing how in "burma, a teacher earns only..." (pg. 20) and so on. Furthermore, I admired the many different forms of simile and metaphor the author employed, not only to add to his story, but also to directly quote Muang-Muang's mantras. For instance, when Iyer felt "uncertain as an actor walking through a play he hasn't read." (pg. 22)